Rick's Roadshow in New York continues with coverage of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show held at Madison Square Garden. This year's competition features a total of 2,596 dogs from 169 different breeds or varieties of dogs. During the day, there is judging by breed, and at night is the main competition and judging by group. This is a an intensely competitive sport; each dog that shows must be already be a champion for their breed in order to enter the main ring. As each round of competitions proceed, groups of prize-winning, well-bred dogs are eliminated to find the dog with the highest standard of perfection. From the 169 breeds, the dogs are whittled down to the seven groups: Sporting, Hound, Working, Terrier, Toy, Non-Sporting, and Herding. On Tuesday night, after the remaining groups are judged, there will be one final round with the finest dog within each group- yet there can only be one dog that wins. That dog emerges as known as the Best In Show!
above and below: photos from the Hound group line up.
Excitement Backstage...
above: I started the day back stage, touring the benches where all the dogs were "staged" by breed. I had time to observe the dogs getting groomed, and last minute coaching refresher courses from their trainers. Some dogs were excited. Others were irritated by the other dogs barking. And some dogs decided it was all much ado about nothing and were quite happily sleeping amidst all the chaos of the day
above: this "Bouviers des Flandres" dog was happy with all the attention and excitement.
Junior Showmanship Preliminaries
One interesting feature of the afternoon was the Junior Showmanship Competition, an event where young handlers in training can learn the sport of showing dogs and be part of the Westminster Kennel Club.
above and below: the Junior handlers have a go at the competitions and test out their skills as up-and-coming professionals.
It was a great first day of the Westminster Show...I am already excitment about tomorrow's competition and am speculating the eventual Best In Show winner! Look for me on TV Tuesday night, I'll be sitting behind the judges!
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